Ouch That Hurts

Why You Should Keep Training with Back Pain

Back pain can feel excruciating and intimidating. It can stop you in your tracks and make you question whether staying active is safe—or possible. But here’s the truth: experiencing back pain doesn’t mean you’re broken, fragile, or doomed to a sedentary life. In fact, one of the best things you can do is keep moving.

Now there are very rare occasions and injuries that need to be addressed ASAP with a medical professional. The vast majority of back pain episodes (nonspecific low back pain) are not serious and do not require serious medical intervention. Please do not hear that it is not painful or that it is “all in your head”. I know from personal experience it can be very painful, but I also understand the severity of the pain does not correlate to severity of injury.

Here is a very entertaining and informative talk about how pain does not correlate with damage. Check it out and it can change your outlook.

Here are three powerful reasons to continue exercising—even with back pain—and a deeper look at how your mindset and beliefs play a major role in your recovery.

1. Pain Doesn’t Equal Damage

Pain is a signal, not a diagnosis.

It’s your body’s way of communicating that something might need attention—not that something is destroyed. Modern pain science shows us that pain and tissue damage don’t always line up. You can have pain without injury and injury without pain.

So when your back hurts, it doesn’t automatically mean you’ve herniated a disc or “thrown your back out.” It could simply be your body telling you: “We’re under more stress right now than we are ready to handle

.”

This means you will need to modify your workouts and adjust volume and intensity but continuing to move and train will contribute to decreasing your pain and assuring yourself that you are not broken. The old idea of just resting and stopping exercise until you are better has been shown to prolong the recovery process.

2. Avoiding Pain Can Make Things Worse

When you stop moving altogether out of fear, your nervous system becomes more sensitive to pain.

This is called central sensitization—where the brain amplifies the pain signal because it’s been conditioned to expect threat. Avoiding movement can cause your system to recalibrate in the wrong direction, making previously tolerable activities feel threatening.

Instead of eliminating all pain, the goal is graded exposure. Train smart. Move within tolerable limits. Build back confidence, one rep at a time.

3. Movement Builds Resilience

Inactivity leads to a lower fitness base, which increases your risk of recurring pain.

When you stop exercising, your muscles, connective tissue, and nervous system all begin to downregulate. This doesn’t make you safer—it makes you more vulnerable. Keeping a regular routine (even modified for pain) builds capacity, confidence, and resilience.

Think of your fitness as a buffer. The bigger that buffer, the more life you can handle—physically and mentally. I currently have a client who came to me to lose weight and gain strength. He is over 50 years old and gained weight and became sedentary after a back injury a few years ago. He currently squats and deadlifts once per week with a barbell. He has lost weight, gained strength, muscle mass and endurance. Additionally, his back is feeling better and stronger. He told me the other day that his back feels better in the morning than it has since before the injury and loosens up quicker than before. His back is getting physically stronger but he is also learning that his back is strong and resilient and fragile.

Understanding the Biopsychosocial Model of Pain

Pain is not just a physical issue—it’s also influenced by your thoughts, beliefs, emotions, and environment.

Words matter. Beliefs matter.

When you hear phrases like:

• “ wear and tear”

• “You’ll have to live with this forever”

• "Disc Degeneration"

• “Your have the back of a 70 year old.”

…those ideas take root and can make pain worse. But you are not fragile—you are adaptable. Your body is constantly remodeling, recovering, and learning.

A doctor can unintentionally cause harm by using “You have the spine of an 70 year old,” or that you have “bone-on-bone arthritis,” that language can create fear and helplessness—even if your body is structurally sound. There are changes that occur in our spine and body as we age. 37% of people in there 20's show "Disc Degeneration" but have NO pain symptoms. Those percentages jumps to 80% of people in their 50s and 93% in their 70's. These are people who are not experiencing pain symptoms. That should tell us that something shown on an MRI does not mean that is what is causing your pain. An MRI can show an anomaly on your spine, but it cannot tell you if that is what is causing your pain or when that anomaly occurred.

The term "Disc Degeneration" sounds bad, like your discs are disintegrating like ancient ruins. That is not the case, though they are changing they are always able to adapt and strength as long as you are alive. The loading needs to be cautious, slow and progressive. When someone has gray hair do we call it "Degenerative Hair Disease"? No, we would think of it as age related changes. We should do this with anomalies in the spine and other places. Your thoughts, and beliefs shaped by your family, friends and life experience have a profound effect on how you respond. Check out my previous blog about some of this by clicking below.

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Most back pain episodes resolve in under six weeks. Often it is not a specific movement or exercise but the overall volume, work load and life stress that can contribute to an episode of back pain.

You Are Resilient, Not Broken

Back pain can be part of the journey, but it doesn’t have to be the end of it. You’re allowed to hurt and still train. You’re allowed to rest—but not quit. You’re allowed to adjust—not abandon—your goals. You will find that if a back tweak occurs you will recover much quicker by continuing to move and train. That does not mean ignore the pain and do the prescribed workout, modifications may be needed, but keep moving.

Trust your body. Trust the process. And remember, motion is lotion—movement is medicine.

Everyone Needs MOE Strength

Nate